Lee Hughes would never admit it, of course, but there is strong evidence to suggest that he left a club on the up to secure employment with a club in transition.

The Coventry City striker must have felt a tinge of envy at Highfield Road yesterday when West Bromwich Albion, the team for whom he scored so many goals, acquired the victory that put them to within a point of second position in the Nationwide League.

Hughes was routinely booed - and not only by the Albion supporters - and his miserable day came to an end when he was substituted with 22 minutes remaining.

Gary Megson took no pleasure in that. The Albion manager, though pleased with the result, had words of comfort for the player whom he sold for #5,000,001 last summer.

"It is not nice to see somebody you like have a difficult time," Megson said. "I had a word with Lee at the end and told him to keep his head up. He is a great lad and every one connected with our football club has a lot of time for him."

There is no doubt that Megson would love to take Hughes back to The Hawthorns because, for a side on the brink of automatic promotion to the FA Barclaycard Premiership, Albion do not score enough goals.

The one they did score, by Bob Taylor in the 15th minute, was only their 57th in the Nationwide League this season. By contrast, Manchester City have scored 97 and that is why they are the runaway leaders and destined to win the championship.

This victory against Coventry was Albion's 16th by 1-0 this season but, significantly, it was their 26th clean sheet. Quite how they will fare in the Premiership next season - if, indeed, they get there - is open to debate but for now Megson can regard himself as a tactical master.

Coventry had no answer to Albion in the opening 20 minutes and that was when the game was won and lost. Igor Balis flighted the ball across from a corner, Daniele Dichio created problems with his height and Taylor stabbed home the loose ball from a yard out. "That was our best start, in terms of play, to a match this season," Megson said.

As is their wont, Albion sat back after going in front and they allowed Coventry much of the possession, confident that the defenders would deal comfortably with any threat. It worked a treat, too, although it needed men such as Darren Moore and Stan-islav Varga to be in good form.

Coventry are finding that their hopes of finishing in the play-off positions are diminishing and Roland Nilsson, their increasingly nervous manager, admitted as much. "The chances of promotion are getting slimmer with every game we play," he said. "We now have three games and we need to get all of the points that are going."

To be fair, they did not play badly. John Eustace, returning to the starting line-up for the first time since September, was a revelation and Jay Bothroyd caused Albion problems after he replaced Hughes in the 68th minute.

It needed more than that, however, and Albion were always more adept, usually first to the second balls, and had more passionate when it mattered. Their supporters played their part in making this match memorable as much for the atmosphere as it was for the pace of the play. Pretty, it was not; frenzied, it was.

Trevor Benjamin, who was brought on as a substitute in place of Taylor, was sent off for violent conduct in the 84th minute when he fouled Muhamed Konjic. There were other skirmishes but, then, this was a West Midlands derby with much at stake.

It was easy to feel sorry for Nilsson. His team did enough to have won most matches and it was not his fault that Russell Hoult, the Albion goalkeeper whom Megson believes is the best outside the Premiership, was impressive.

Eustace was another to lament Hoult's ability. The Coventry player struck a low shot in the 21st minute that seemed bound for the goal until Hoult somehow got his body in the way.

It was a save that was as important as the goal scored by Taylor and, as a consequence of his important victory, the First Division table suggests that the momentum is with Albion.

Perhaps if Hughes had been persuaded to stay, they might be battling with Manchester City for the Nationwide League title.